Carpenter Elementary serves four noncontiguous areas including two northeast Pittsfield Twp. sections, all of which are long popular for affordable homes and semi-rural settings.
The small frame and ranch houses in the original Carpenter School neighborhood immediately to the east of US-23 and south of Washtenaw Ave. were built in the decade after World War II. Several generations live on these quiet, flat streets, laid out in a grid between Packard and Washtenaw Ave. Stretches of condos, townhouses, and single-family homes spread along Packard and in the Arbor Woods subdivision. An older neighborhood of small houses lies west of Golfside.
Children along Christina and adjoining streets north of Morgan are bused to Carpenter. So are those in an area between Crane and Golfside along and south of Textile, in the far southeast corner of the school district. South of Ellsworth and west of US-23, where the Carpenter area stretches south of Michigan Ave., subdivisions alternate with individual homes among acres of surviving farmland. The Estates at Pittsfield Glen, with entrances on Platt and Textile, offer newer, single-family homes. Wellesley Gardens, on Michigan Ave. just west of US-23, has 426 condos, lofts, and townhouses; the Arbor Knoll apartments are next door. To the west, on Stone School Rd. south of Ellsworth, are the 200 “upper and lower ranches” of the Woodside Meadows condominium complex.
Carpenter grads go to Scarlett Middle School and then Huron High.
Bike lanes: Packard has an east-west bike lane running from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti. E. Huron River Dr. and a portion of Hogback have bike lanes, and E. Ellsworth has dedicated bike lanes from Stone School Rd. to Platt. Michigan Ave. from Warner to Platt has a bike-friendly designation, as does Platt from Michigan Ave. to Rolling Meadow Ln.
Walking: Carpenter Elementary’s Walk Score is 60. The southwestern parts of the neighborhood are within walking distance of shopping at Carpenter and Packard.
